Head-To-Head Survey: Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) vs. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF)

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Brixmor Property Group and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brixmor Property Group	$1.37 billion	6.98	$386.23 million	$1.44	21.66
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	$654.07 million	5.73	$180.22 million	$1.78	11.80

Brixmor Property Group has higher revenue and earnings than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brixmor Property Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Brixmor Property Group and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brixmor Property Group	0	2	10	2	3.00
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	0	1	1	1	3.00

Brixmor Property Group presently has a consensus price target of $33.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.79%. Given Brixmor Property Group’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Brixmor Property Group is more favorable than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Brixmor Property Group and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brixmor Property Group	31.99%	14.85%	4.95%
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	46.42%	6.72%	3.51%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. Brixmor Property Group pays out 85.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 75.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Brixmor Property Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust

SmartCentres is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 191 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $12.0 billion in assets and owns 35.0 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office properties with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.